Posted by Joshua on Friday, September 28th, 2012

Firas Tlass’ company is worthless. The brother of General Manaf Tlass is offering to finance a new Syrian opposition with worthless assets. His company, MAS, is bankrupt. Moreover, he has no access to it. According to knowledgeable sources, MAS, which stands for Min Ajl Suriyya or ‘For the sake of Syria’, was largely a worthless shell of a corporation even before he left the country. Now that he has left and declared himself a leader of the opposition, the Syrian authorities will requisition his assets, if they have not done so already, under Syria’s anti-terrorism law. Both Manaf Tlass and Michel Kilo have already had their assets nationalized under the anti-terrorism law. The Tlass family does not have access to any money in Syria. By offering Syrian assets to finance the opposition, he is offering hot air.

If Firas Tlass were serious about putting up money, he would offer a dollar amount out of his personal assets. Instead he is offering a shell corporation that has been impounded..

One of Syria’s richest men to help fund a rebel army
The Syrian regime’s richest opponent, the business magnate Firas Tlass has pledged his fortune to the “revolution”, promising to fund rebel groups, humanitarian aid and an organisation to deal with the chaos after President Assad has gone.
The Tlass family has long been a stalwart of the Syrian regime
By Ruth Sherlock, Istanbul, 27 Sep 2012

In his first interview with a western newspaper since leaving Syria, the country’s biggest industrial tycoon has told the Daily Telegraph of how the ownership of his conglomerate of huge companies is to be given to a panel of leading opposition figures, and the profits used to help to build a democratic society in Syria.

“I am supporting a complete program [to oust the regime]. I am putting my fortune behind this, totally, until the end,” said Mr Tlass. “But this is nothing. If I give all my money it is not worth one gram of the blood spilt by the Syrian people.”

The Tlass family has long been a stalwart of the Syrian regime. Mr Firas’ father Mustafa Tlass and Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez, worked together to bring the Assad family to power. His brother is the defected Brigadier General Manaf Tlass who was a close childhood friend of the Syrian president.

For decades the family benefited from its insider status. Firas Tlass was thought to have been influential on the privatisation process started by the regime in recent decades. Named Min Ajl Suriyya (MAS), or ‘For the sake of Syria’, Mr Tlass’ empire spans several industries in Syria, from roasting coffee beans to construction and is thought to be worth billions of Syrian pounds.

“What Syria gave me I will give it back to Syria,” said Mr Tlass.

After the collapse of the Syrian regime Mr Tlass said he plans to create a non-governmental organisation that will have formal ownership of MAS. “I am preparing the legal papers now. It will be owned by a panel of seven leading figures of the opposition, and I will make the accounts public and transparent,” said Mr Tlass.

The NGO will use the company’s profits to “prepare the people of Syria for new way of thinking”, said Mr Tlass: “My dream is that Syria becomes a real democratic country”.

His antipathy with the Syrian government stretches back for nearly a decade said Mr Tlass. “The Assad family thinks that they own this country and that the people in it are their sheep. Only the family owns the farm. Even us, people close to the regime, we were just seen as their guards. That’s how they work with Syria,” said Mr Tlass, recounting a catalogue of examples where businessmen who had garnered favour with the country’s leadership were given sizeable business contracts.

“In 2005 I made friends with part of the opposition. We put together a study for political, economic and social reform and sent it to Bashar. Two months later I received a cold reply asking me why, as a businessman I was dealing in politics?” said Mr Tlass.

Mr Tlass told the Daily Telegraph that he would never seek a political leadership role in a future Syria, but he dismissed exiled opposition groups, including the bedraggled Syrian National Council as lacking the vision saying Bashar al-Assad would stay in power for “50 more years” if they led the revolution.

Instead he said he would fund a new leadership from “inside Syria”. Refusing to give names he said a number of community leaders from cities across Syria were part of a group being groomed to form a transitional government.

“We need to create a national front, a council of 30 people that can form a transitional council and govern for the period up until the election of a new parliament,” said Mr Tlass.

The council should represent the dozens of groups that currently make up Syria’s fragmented opposition as well as Alawite figures from the ousted regime he said. “The Alawites look to the regime as their representatives, non-regime figures are seen as traitors if they join the opposition. We have to include some of the old guards”.

In the past weeks Mr Tlass had been speaking with key figures of the country’s business elite and working to convince them to join the revolution, he told the Daily Telegraph. As businesses close and the country’s economy slides to a standstill amid the civil war, the country’s commercial core is beginning to jump ship he said. Even business partners of Syria’s biggest businessman and regime loyalist Rami Makhlouf are beginning to move away from the Assad family he said.

“Most of Makhlouf’s business partners are leaving him,” said Mr Tlass. “Now we need the Syrian businessmen from inside and outside the country to group together and provide funds for the opposition”.

Comments (189)

A group of Syrian rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) defected and joined pro-government forces on Wednesday. The troops’ commander announced that “the road is open,” and called on to other rebels to abandon their uprising.

­Eleven rebel troops – three officers, two warrant officers and six civilians – defected from the FSA and now support President Bashar al-Assad, AFP reported.

“We have decided to return to the army and cooperate with the Ministry of National Reconciliation,” Lieutenant-Colonel Khaled Abdel Rahman al-Zamel said during a conference of non-combatant Syrian opposition groups.

“We are all Syrians, we reject a revolution that starts with the shedding of blood,” al-Zamel said, eliciting applause from the audience.

“The solution can’t be achieved through holding weapons, blasts, sabotage or killing the innocent, but repenting from the wrongdoing and through political means,” Xinhua quoted al-Zamel as saying. He previously served as a captain in the Syrian Army, before joining the FSA months ago. He was reportedly the head of the FSA’s leadership in southern Syria, and acted as the deputy chief of the rebels’ military council.

The appearance of al-Zamel and his men came as a surprise to the Damascus conference, organized by some 30 Syrian opposition groups with the aim of opening peaceful dialogue with the Syrian government to resolve the ongoing crisis in the country. The gathering was attended by ambassadors from Russia and Iran, and China’s temporary charge d’affaires for Syria – three nations who consistently supported the Assad regime over the past 18-month uprising.

Al-Zamel’s statement sparked debate among anti-regime activists – some argued that al-Zamel was forced to make his statement; others claimed that they had no idea who he was.

Yaser al-Abed, another FSA officer who attended the conference, formerly commanded a rebel group in Aleppo province. During the conference, al-Abed called on other insurgents to disarm and surrender: “Work your minds and know that holding weapons is nothing but a violation to the minds and freedom alike.”

“Syria is our home and honor, but they wanted to burn it. The most targeted things are our religion, nation and land,” al-Abed said. “I have known all that, and that is why I have decided to lay down my weapon to be a loving person who seeks the good and the humanity.”

I do not read myth books. And I know history much better than you. You have been fed poisonous stories by your ancestors. You made that evident by claiming that my ancestors forced your ancestors to pay jizya. Well. That is too bad.

My argument does not imply as you falsely conclude that there should be no more Christians in Syria, Iraq and Egypt. I said Islam tolerated the existence of Christians because Qur’anic injunctions command their protection with conditions of course as you correctly say. This is perhaps the only correct statement you made. My ancestors whom you blame for imposing the jizya on your ancestors were doing the most honorable thing. In fact, I am proud of them precisely for imposing the jizya and not forcing the conversion of your ancestors or their extermination as we’ve seen in al-Andalusia when it reverted to Christian control and the Muslims were forced to either convert, leave or be killed

You may call this jizya tax if you wish, and you would gladly pay and perhaps even tenfolds of what your ancestors paid when you live in any western country. On the other hand you argue by saying that indigenous population converted to Islam in order to avoid paying the jizya. That is outright delusional falsehood that can only be entertained by those poisoned by such stories as were told to you by your ancestors. When a person becomes Muslim he is obligated to pay zakat which is equivalent to or even higher than what a non-Muslim would pay in jizya. The economic incentives therefore never existed for the indigenous population to convert.

The real history that you seem to deliberately ignore is the inherent flaws that were so prevalent in the early Church that the people of Syria, Iraq and Egypt were so sick and tired of that when the Muslims came out of Arabia they were received with open arms and were looked at as the ultimate saviours and liberators from the enslavement imposed upon them by the Byzantines which I believe you consider yourself as one of their remnants. How great, noble and magnanimous were my ancestors to allow your ancestors to survive despite their devious and heinous behavior against the good people of Syria, Iraq and Egypt who were the cousins of my ancestors and who took it upon their good conscious to liberate them from the claws of the slavery of your ancestors? The Byzantines were the first colonizers after the Romans of our beloved Syria. Having been vanquished by the Muslim Arabs, then we can only say good riddance.

The flaws that I am referring to that plagued the early church were the well known Byzantine futile arguments about the true nature of Jesus and whether he was divine, human, divine-human or who knows what. You still suffer from the effect of that poison which you were fed by your ancestors and you still maintain that a mere human slave of Allah such as Jesus is your god. How pathetic? Islam came and simply dispelled all these myths that were abhorred by the Egyptians and the Mesopotomians never believed in this theological nonsense and bullshit, and when the Muslims came the people of Egypt and Mesopotomia immediately recognized the Truth of Islam and converted in droves for they were in close affinity with their Arab next of kin and not the foreign Byzantine intruders. Of course, some like your ancestors had much to lose, having lost undeserved privileges and maintained their Byzantine delusional disposition. Again, the fact that you are still around testifies to the greatness of my ancestors and not to any special qualities of your vanquished Byzantine ancestors.

As a result I should be very proud of my ancestors for having come out from the desert and destroyed the two evil powers of the time simultaneously and singlehandedly.

As for your reference to Caliph Abd al-Malik you must know that he ruled before Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz. So your argument if true supports my thesis and not yours. However, as I told you in my previous comment your knowledge of history is deficient. In fact, the Umayyads were devout Muslims not from the date of caliph Abd Al-Malik as you claim. Muawiya, the first Umayyad Caliph, was in fact known as the scribe of the Revelation of the Prophet (PBUH).

Finally believe me when I say to you that the Christians of Spain and the rest of Europe were so ignorant at the time my ancestors ruled them in Spain and they should be grateful that the tent dwellers of Arabia came to them in order to take them out of the darkness that they were engulfed in.

NICOSIA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — European defense ministers meeting in Cyprus on Thursday ruled out the possibility of a military intervention in Syria and advocated a political solution to the crisis faced by the country.

“Our aim is to extend our support to the people in the area to build their own democratic institutions, their own democratic societies and democratic states based on human and political rights,” said Cypriot Defense Minister Demetris Eliades, who chaired the two-day informal meeting.

He added that the European Union is in favor of a political solution in Syria.

“Our priority is to prevent further loss of life and destruction, to restore a peaceful environment and deter a regional escalation of the crisis, especially in Lebanon, because such a development will lead to unpredictable consequences in the region,” Eliades said.

However, Eliades conceded that the situation in Syria is tragic and the general feeling in the meeting was that no end of the crisis is in sight.

Ministers of southern EU countries said they were concerned about a new wave of immigrants from Arab and northern African countries arriving in Europe and called for concerted action to deal with such contingency.

Greece asked for practical economic and military assistance by Frontex, the European Union agency in charge of keeping watch on the external EU borders.

The EU defense ministers meeting said they supported a United Nations presence in Syria and the mission of UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

Syrian Army troops have managed to clear Damascus’ Jobar district of foreign-sponsored insurgents as the Army continues its mop-up operations against the anti-government armed men across the country.

Syrian soldiers launched an operation against insurgents in the area on Thursday, killing several of them, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

The Army said the soldiers also seized back medicalequipment previously stolen by insurgents from public hospitals.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West’s policies have destabilized a number of Arab states and are now creating chaos in Syria.

The Russian head of state warned of “wide-scale ethnic cleansing” in Syria, which he likened to the one that followed the Roman Empire’s invasion of Carthage and the great city’s fall in 146 BC.
“The Roman Empire not only seized and occupied Carthage, but even when it destroyed everything, it dismembered everyone and then poured salt over them to make sure that nothing grew back,” he said.

No wonder why the Tlass family is acceptable to Turkey , Saudi and arm suppliers :

Mustafa Tlass was born in the village of al-Rastan near Homs in 1932, the son of a minor Sunni notable who made a living during Ottoman times by selling ammunition to the Turkish garrisons.
By the time the Ottomans left Syria in 1918, Abdul-Kader Tlass had secured a small fortune for his children’s education.

Hanna Batatu, Syria’s Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Rural Notables, and Their Politics (Princeton University Press, 1999), p.152.

Last night, the Syrian government troops repelled the rebels’ fierce counterattacks in the country’s second most-impost city, Aleppo.

According to the local media, the armed units of the Tauhid extremist group, which is the backbone of the rebels’ force in the area, made desperate attempts to force a breakthrough but were met with a hail of fire from the government troops.

Experts believe the rebels have stepped up the fight in an attempt to catch the eye of the participants in the ongoing UN General Assembly session in New York.

ALEPPO, Syria: More than two months after the battle for Aleppo began, residents are grumbling about the high cost of the Syrian revolution and accuse rebels of excesses. The romantic image of a people rising up against their tyrannical leader is beginning to fray for some residents of the northern metropolis, whose neighborhoods are the scene of daily bombardments and bloody street battles.

Caught in the crossfire of a war in which they feel sidelined, those most angry even accuse the rebels of using them as “human shields.”

Fayez Shuayb, 65, who lives in the Saif al-Dawla district, does not hide his disillusionment. “I went to visit my mother, and when I came home there were a dozen armed men in my house.”

“Some were wearing my clothes, using my kitchen and watching my TV.”

The retired topographer, who suffers from diabetes and heart problems, says he lived in New York for 10 years, working on the construction of a bridge.

“Don’t worry old fella. We won’t steal anything,” he recalls being told by the armed men.

“I’m old enough to be their granddad but they respect nothing and no one. I tried to make them leave but they refused to move. They think they can get away with everything because they carry guns and fight against (President) Bashar Assad,” he added.

The young rebels offered to “kick down the door” of a neighboring house so Shuayb could move in there.

“Imagine what would happen when the neighbors came back to find me in their bed – they’d shoot me,” he fumes, saying he finally resigned himself to sleeping in the street.

He found shelter in a small building adjoining his house, which he illuminates with two candles. “We’re paying too high a price for our freedom. I don’t want this revolution if this is the cost.

“There are a lot of empty buildings in Aleppo. They’re brand new as there’s been no time for people to move in. I suggested the fighters set themselves up in those, rather than in a family home,” he says.

But he claims they refused: “They’re scared of becoming targets for the army if they go into empty buildings. That’s why they prefer living among the population. They use us as human shields.”

As long as the FSA doesn’t have shoulder to air missiles how could any battle be decisive? Why can’t the French Madam use her late husband’s arm dealers connection to buy us serious weapons. That is the least she can do.

To explain the failure of the rebels to ‘re-liberate’ parts of Aleppo, the activists now invoke the excuse that the Sunni Syrian Kurds, conveniently labelled PKK, are fighting along the alleged ‘All-Alawite’ Syrian Army against the “oppressed civilians Sunnis” in Aleppo.

Some activists and rebels said that members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which for decades had close ties with the Syrian government, were participating in the Aleppo battles for the first time since the uprising against Assad’s regime began in March last year.

Al-Halabi said some of the heaviest battles were taking place in a predominantly Kurdish area of Sheikh Maksoud where PKK fighters were fighting alongside regime forces. The major rebel group in the city — the Tawhid Brigade — said on its Facebook page that its members have entered the neighborhood and fought with PKK gunmen there.

However, another Aleppo-based activist, Mohammed Saeed, said PKK fighters withdrew shortly after the fighting began without taking part in the battle.

Foreign ministers and senior diplomats from the “Friends of Syria” – a group that includes the United States, France, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – are due to meet in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Friday.

“I just expect ideas to be presented. There will be no concrete plans,” Arab League Secretary General Nabil El-Erabi told Reuters. “Governments are not ready to put plans into action and the Security Council is not agreeing on anything.”
…
Iraq will join a meeting of the Friends of Syria for the first time, in growing recognition of the role it plays in the region, and the number of refugees it is now hosting.

“As we crashed from euphoric highs, cracks in the revolution have appeared. Power struggles on the front lines and between the political groups exposed us as a fractured opposition. Bickering on social media sites turned activists against each other as loyalties were questioned. In contrast, the regime was steadfast, unflinching in its kill, burn and bomb strategy. Somewhere along revolution road our narratives had crossed and we wondered, was this the beginning of the end? Was the revolution dying? Or worse, the question I asked people: was the revolution dead?”
..
Time to accept that the revolution is not a just something you enjoy when it’s uplifting and abandon when it becomes too ugly or too painful. Revolution, like freedom, has an expensive dowry.

It’s time to remember what we have forgotten: the absence of fear keeps the revolution alive. And remember the people’s conviction that in the end, victory is ours

UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – The head of NATO expressed concern on Thursday about armed groups operating outside government control in Libya and said he was encouraging Tripoli to accept an offer of help to reform its security sector.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made the offer to Libyan leader Mohammed Magarief after this month’s attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, which killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
…
Rasmussen reiterated that NATO had no intention to intervene in Syria as it had in Libya, but stood ready to defend NATO member and Syria’s neighbor Turkey, should this be necessary.

“We do believe that the way forward in Syria is a political solution,” he said. “Syria is a very complex society, religiously, ethnically, politically. Any foreign intervention may have unpredictable repercussions.”

The FSA with many thanks to Allah the Al-Mighty are making new breakthroughs in Aleppo.

————————————

Darryl.

I tried several times to repost that filtered response to your latest allegations that are pure nonsense, delusional and laughable to the say the least that you made in your comment of two posts ago but my comment did not go through. May be over the weekend I will try to rewrite another comment that will convey what was in the filtered comment.

Another one bit the dust… way to go…still long way for that Baathist Shia Zionist Assad bite the dust…years, if not decades…he will rule as Prethident of Syria Rubbleland…what a bunch of LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSERS.

Islam faced with one more enemy: the Jewish-Zionist House of Saud, read the fact about Zionism best kept secret to destroy Islam and the Moslem Nation from within. The enemy within Islam is much more than the obvious British sponsored and paid Zionist-Shia Ayatollah’s in Iran. Read, click the link to read about Zionism best kept secret:

Well, we’re much obliged, Zoo, ol’ Pardner. You managed to find something you thought you could use in your favor even in an Amal Hanano article, but we still thank you all the same for reminding us that she’s got a new article out. She’s an honest person that doesn’t prescribe to any sort of pretense, so she’ll give you those morsels to chew on and gloat about, but you do have to admit that in the end it will only uplift us (and I mean by that those of us who stand behing this orphaned revolution) and keep us as determined as ever to rid Syria of tyranny, of rule by terror and see freedom and justice blossom FOR EVERY SYRIAN regardless of his/her ethnicity or beliefs.

With the Grand National Assembly (parliament) returning next week from its summer recess, the firing shot will be sounded for an exciting, and dangerous, moment in Turkey’s quest for redefining its identity under Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan

If someone reads all the post in the last year, it seems the only sure thing that a large past of the Syrian Sunni continues to support the regime inspite of its all corruption, dirty acts, political opression, it is not hidden that the major leads defection who turns against the regime have different motivation.
It is clear that money buys many people but still many Sunni are supporting the regime otherwise it would have been gone by now.
the Syrian army didn’t collapse and inspite of the alawite are the one in lead positions the Sunni are the work horse of the army.
someone has to question him/herself what does the USA want in Syria, it is clear that it is not helping the topple of Assad by any serious means.
it is a proxy war against Iran for the help of Israel.
The Israeli’s PM admitted that he has no problem with Assad continuing in Power as long as Iran is stopped, therefore, the small gain of toppling assad to replace with a lawless condition in syria is not very help to Israel especially if the radicals are the one in power and islamic state in work.

Is Turkey about to redefine itself again as part of al-Umma Islamiya in order to avoid the pitfalls of misguided nationalism that many in Turkey now realize are causing faultlines in Turkey itself as well as in the region? In addition many now realize that Ataturk nationalism has caused Turkey to recede to 2nd rate status on the world scene after it enjoyed an undsiputed first rate power for over 500 years.

We’ll find out when the greater assembly of Turkish parliament reconvenes after its summer recess to discuss these issues. We will also find out if Erdogan will go down in history as the second founder of 21st century Turkey consigning to history dustbin Ataturkian petty nationalism.

What will idiot prethident do if and when this earthquake hits the region eliminating from his pocket once and for all the petty card of minorities and divisions?

—————————–

It looks like the Zoo as in comment 27 is always on the look out for whatever may cause the demise of his idol idiot prethident.

Well the end is near Zoo.

But not Game Over as your idiot thinks. We have been hearing this for almost two years now.

The resolution on Syria of the United Nations Human Rights Council contains a number of “inadmissible clauses”, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maria Khodynskaya-Golenishcheva said, commenting on Russia’s vote against this document.

“One can’t agree with the unilateral conclusions concerning the tragedy in El-Houleh as well as with the fact that these murders are similar to other such incidents in Syria,” she said.

The Russian diplomat says that the investigation should be completed instead of accusing the government of having insufficient proof.

There are countries that are actually encouraging terrorism in Syria – therefore, we have no doubt that the episode in El-Houleh is being intentionally hyped in the media and is being used for the purpose of a forceful scenario regarding that country, Khodynskaya-Golenishcheva stressed.

A self- fulfilled prophecy? It is becoming now difficult to know who is what. What Shariaa law is he talking about? The strict interpretation where adulterers are stoned and thieves have theirs hands cut? Or a law that is influence by the shariaa?

Interviewed via Skype by our colleague Mona Mahmood, he also talked about the latest fighting in Aleppo.

There are many battles are going on with Syrian army in different districts in Aleppo. The mujahideen were able to attack [the Syrian army’s] Battalion 46 which is considered the death battalion [because of its aggressive reputation].

The [rebel] fighters were able to progress in al-Arqoub, Maysaloon, Abdulla al-Jaberi square, Hamdaniya and Jamiliya. All the fronts are fighting now in Aleppo. Fighting is getting very tough now.

The Syrian army is using planes and barrels of explosives to strike all the districts in Aleppo. They want us to lose people’s support.

The battle is still going on. We do not have the total figure for casualties, but I know that many tanks have been destroyed and many Syrian soldiers were killed, in addition to the destruction of many army sites.

I know a martyr of Suqur al-Sham brigade was killed yesterday. We also have a few wounded.

Our main problem is the shortage of ammunition. Our fighters are fighting with almost empty Kalashnikovs. They have only a few magazines [of bullets] but they have great belief in their? cause. They are ready to fight to the death.

We have more than 450 mujahideen in Aleppo now, some of them are defected soldiers, others are civilians believe in the revolution.

We are an Islamic organisation. We want to implement sharia after the liberation. All our mujahideen are fighting now under the command of our leader Mustafaf Abdullah.

The most important achievement so far in the battle is the progress in Abdulla al-Jaberi square – it is the centre of Aleppo. It has the branch of the Ba’ath party and a few security headquarters.

There were ferocious battles in Salehaden and al-Ameriya and al-Sukari. It is a guerrilla war. The Syrian army would come forward 10 metres, we would move forward 50 metres and then if we need to pull back, we pull back.

By implication, Williams also suggests strongly that such allegations are the product of the propaganda department of the Sunni insurgents seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

/…/

“In the aftermath of the massacre at Houla last month,
/…/
Moreover, while Syrian forces had shelled the area shortly before the massacre, the details of exactly who carried out the attacks, how and why were still unclear.”

For this reason, he concludes somewhat belatedly, “In such circumstances, it’s more important than ever that we report what we don’t know, not merely what we do.”

“In Houla, and now in Qubair, the finger has been pointed at the Shabiha, pro-government militia. But tragic death toll aside, the facts are few: it’s not clear who ordered the killings—or why.”

No trace of such a restrained approach could be found at the time on the BBC, or most anywhere else.

Instead the BBC offered itself as a sounding board for the statements of feigned outrage emanating from London, Washington and the United Nations headquarters—all blaming the atrocity on either the Syrian Army or Shabiha militias acting under its protection.

Typical was the May 28 report, “Syria Houla massacre: Survivors recount horror”, in which unidentified “Survivors of the massacre … have told the BBC of their shock and fear as regime forces entered their homes and killed their families.” Nowhere was the question even posed that in such a conflict these alleged witnesses could be politically aligned with the opposition and acting under its instruction.

Only now does Williams state:

“Given the difficulties of reporting inside Syria, video filed by the opposition on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube may provide some insight into the story on the ground. But stories are never black and white—often shades of grey. Those opposed to President Assad have an agenda. One senior Western official went as far as to describe their YouTube communications strategy as ‘brilliant’. But he also likened it to so-called ‘psy-ops’, brainwashing techniques used by the US and other military to convince people of things that may not necessarily be true.”

Williams is in a position to know wherof he speaks.

On May 27, the BBC ran a report on Houla under a photo purporting to show “the bodies of children in Houla awaiting burial.”

In reality, this was an example of opposition propaganda that was anything but “brilliant”. The photograph of dozens of shrouded corpses was actually taken by Marco di Lauro in Iraq on March 27, 2003 and was of white body bags containing skeletons found in a desert south of Baghdad.

/…/

The BBC again acted as a vehicle for such propaganda, despite knowing that the photo had been supplied by an “activist” and that it could not be independently verified.

It may well be the case that Williams’ mea culpa is motivated by a personal concern at the role he and his colleagues are being asked to play as mouthpieces for the campaign for regime change in Syria. But with his comments buried away on his blog, elsewhere on the BBC everything proceeds according to script.

The BBC’s coverage of the alleged June 6 massacre in the village of Qubair once again features uncritical reporting of allegations by the opposition that it was the work of Shabiha militias that were being protected by Syrian troops.
/…/
It must also be pointed out that the BBC has not written a word regarding the June 7 report by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the Free Syrian Army carried out the Houla massacre, according to interviews with local residents by opposition forces opposed to the Western-backed militia.

Things have settled down in the south of the city. There was fierce fighting for the past two weeks in the south. But it seems the government were able to force the FSA to move out to the outer suburbs.
….
After the fighting in the south, and the FSA were pushed away, people were starting to think that the government was retaking control of the whole area. But the attacks boosted the morale of the people, and at the same time it seems to be degrading the morale of those siding with the government, because this place has never been hit before – it’s a very secure place.

It seems that any [rebel] operation conducted in Damascus is not intended to take the city, but rather to deflect the government attention from Idlib and Aleppo. So now the government has to put more forces [in Damascus] to secure the capital. Inevitably that will mean it will be losing control in the north.

The application and interpretation of the Sharia law varies widely within the sects and the countries.

Sunnis have no religious power structure, therefore, while advised by religious scholars, the Sharia application is left to the entities who have the political power and differs widely in each country ( Indonesia vs Saudi Arabia vs Turkey).
Shias have a clear religious power structure, thus the interpretation is centralized by the religious power.

“Sharia law is Islamic law. It is subject to some reform, but its concept is generally unchanging. Sharia law determines what is forbidden and what is good and allowed, known as haram and halal respectively. There are four roots of Islamic Law. The first is the Quran, then Sunnah, then consensus – an agreement among scholars, and analogy. While Sharia law may appear strict and rigid, the implementation of these four sources and the supplementary principles makes it a lot more flexible, except otherwise in the case of the Taliban, who have modelled Sharia based on their own contentious agenda.”

“The Sunni sect is adhered to by 85% of Muslims worldwide. They believe that the successors of Muhammad, known as Caliphs, are only guardians of Islam and do not hold greater power than any other Muslim. Some power is given to imams based on their level and knowledge/study of Islam, however this power is not absolute whatsoever. Essentially, there is no real power structure in Sunni Islam.

Shia Muslims, on the other hand, who make up 11% of the Muslim population believe that the role of the descendants of Caliph Ali (the cousin of Muhammad) is to continue revelations and the teachings of the prophet. Considerable power is given those believed to be descendants, who are able to interpret widely. The shia sect has a clear power structure.

The 33-year-old journalist placed his own life in danger on several occasions because he wanted the world to know the truth about the real cause of suffering afflicting the Syrian people. Despite receiving death threats for his critical reporting, he courageously returned to the line of duty time and again. Maya, from Syria, was said by colleagues to be painfully concerned by the suffering of ordinary people. He wanted their truth, their voices to be heard.

The day he was killed was typical of his spirit. When two powerful bombs rocked the centre of the capital, Damascus, on Wednesday morning, Maya and his Press TV colleagues were first on the scene, as Syrian army forces fought gun battles with the perpetrators. He was fatally wounded while doing his job of “getting the story” and factually reporting for the Syrian public and the wider world.

While the Western media would misreport, often from remote offices in the region, on how the Syrian army was bombarding civilian districts and shooting on innocent protesters, Maya would take great personal risk to report on the ground from places like Aleppo. His reports were real, not second-hand versions from un-named “activists” based in Britain and other countries. Crucially, his brave journalism provided a corrective view of what was really happening in Syria.

He knew what was at stake. “My people are dying and I am waiting my turn,” he wrote. Maya knew that powerful forces were at work maligning his country. He knew that Western governments, the US, Britain and France, were fuelling a covert war of aggression in his country by arming foreign mercenaries, who for the past 18 months have unleashed atrocities and carnage on the Syrian people. Yet all the while, these Western governments and their powerful media organizations have turned reality on its head by insisting that the violations are being committed by the Syrian government against its people and the “rebels”.

Maya knew that regional powers like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Israel are also colluding in the foreign conspiracy to destroy his country and to replace the government of President Bashar al-Assad with an entity that would serve the interests of foreign powers, not the interests of his people. A professed Christian, Maya knew that the sabotage of his country was based on the tactic of whipping up sectarian fears between Muslims and Christians, to wreck centuries of peaceful coexistence and tolerance, to replace that with factionalism and tribalism that would best serve the interests of foreign powers.

/…/
Saudi and Qatari-backed satellite platforms have even blocked Syrian news channels in a bid to choke the truth and prevent the world from understanding what is really going on in Syria.

/…/
Even reporting his death this week, the Western media could not find the integrity to tell the truth. The Guardian, BBC, CNN, Reuters and Irish Times, for example, all reported that Maya was killed by “a sniper”. Invariably, they attributed the source “according to Press TV”. Using innuendo, these media went on to remind the reader that Press TV is an Iranian channel, and that Iran is a supporter of the Assad government in Syria.
None of these media would prominently report that Maya had received death threats, that these death threats were issued by Western-backed mercenaries, nor that his death was finally caused by foreign militants that have been infiltrated into Syria to commit acts of terrorism. No, these media would only report that he was killed “by a sniper” – thus once again shrouding the nature of conflict in Syria in mystery.

/…/
Thanks to the courage of Maya Naser, the world is given a far more accurate view of the violence bearing down on Syria. While the supposed august Western media organizations have displayed the most pathetic servile dependency on Western governments, Maya actually lived, fulfilled and died for the principles of truthful, independent journalism. His journalism empowers people to make accurate judgments and to determine the truth of violence and who the perpetrators are.
May he now rest in peace.

So-called Sharia based on roles by so-called descendants of the Prophet (PBUH) does not exist except in the imagination of those mullahs who impose their own rules since al-Kafi book was written some 1200 years ago by the heretic al-Kulayni. These cannot be referred to as Islamic Sharia.

Common Shia persons are unfortunately misled by their mullahs to believe in an nonexisting Sharia based on so-called descendant of the Prophet.

Nothing in that book of al-Kulayni reflects what is in the Qura’an or even what a single descendant of the Prophet may have prescribed. We should also not be fooled into wrongly assuming that the Prophet’s descendants have any special status that should reflect on the life of a Muslim. Only the Qura’n and what has been authentically verified from the Prophet have relevance in this case. Everything in the al-Kafi is made up by the heretic himself.

The Shia must repent immediately and denounce al-Kulayni and his stooges Khomeini and Khamnei. Otherwise they will end up in dire state in this world and the next.

One of Europe’s most outstanding experts on the Middle East, Professor Guenter Meyer, addresses in this exclusive in-depth interview for Asia Times Online the Syrian civil war and its international dimensions.
….

Lars Schall: Professor Meyer, since our perceptions are framed by the media, how do you feel about the coverage of the conflict in Syria in the Western media?

GM: Until recently mainstream reporting in most Western media was clearly biased. It focused mainly on the distinction between the “bad” Syrian regime, which has to be toppled, and the “good” opposition, which has to be supported because it is fighting against a corrupt, authoritarian and brutal government. This perception has changed gradually during the past few months. More and more media are reporting about the conflicting interests of the highly fragmented oppositional groups as well as about the atrocities of the rebel groups and their crimes committed against the civilian population, especially against Alawites but also against Christians.

The influx of Salafis, jihadis and followers of al-Qaeda and the expectation that radical Sunni Islamists will control Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad are disturbing themes that are now also reported in Western media. After a long delay, the news coverage of the development in Syria does no longer focus only on spreading the political view of the “Friends of Syria”, but has started to provide a more comprehensive picture about the highly complex situation in Syria.

So Zoo, where do you think we are going with this? Are we going to be mourning the death of 60,000 Syrians by Sep 2013 and the same status quo? Do you see any breakthrough ? It is getting very depressing..

RIP Maya
Earlier this month the Workers´Party – Turkey filed criminal charges for the Turkish governments support of the Free Syrian Army and related terrorist groups. Only days before his assassination, Maya Naser entered into an ad hoc investigative alliance into the alleged war crimes and human rights violation of the Turkish government with leading members of the Workers´Party Turkey, international lawyer Christopher Black, and the author of this article.

Maya Naser could not only confirm many of the Workers´Party´s allegations against the Turkish government, he could provide the evidence.

In an correspondences to the Foreign Affairs Secretary of the Workers´Party, Harun Çakan, international lawyer Christopher Black, and the author of this article, Maya Naser confirmed that thousands of insurgents have been infiltrated into Syria via Turkey over the last few weeks. He also confirmed that some of the SAM-7 missiles which recently had been shipped from Libya, via Turkey had begun appearing in the hands of insurgents in Syria.

According to Maya Naser´s information, the bulk of these insurgents came from other Arab countries as well as Afghanistan. Turkish insurgents who had been captured or killed in Syria usually held supervisory and command positions and seemed better trained than the average insurgent. The Workers´Party – Turkey accuses the Turkish government for using the Apaydin refugee camp in Hatay to house, train and supervise FSA insurgents. (4)

Maya Naser could not only corroborate these allegations. His detailed information about the identity of some of the killed and captured insurgents could potentially result in the impeachment of the Erdogan led Turkish government.

Killing of Journalist Maya Naser in Damascus possibly tied to his investigation into Erdogan Turkey War Crimes
By Christof Lehmann
/…/

Almost one month ago, Maya Naser wrote, ”while I was covering the military operations in Aleppo, we saw the ID documents of 13 Turkish insurgents. When checking their identities we discovered that one of the fighters was the brother of the 2003 HSBC bomber from Istanbul”.” Such information”, Maya Naser wrote, ”led us to believe that the Turkish government is sending those convicted or under suspicion of being Al-Qaeda members to fight as insurgents in Syria”.

In subsequent, personal conversations between Maya Naser and the author of the article, he reiterated that there is further evidence that corroborates the suspicion that the government of Turkey is sending prisoners who have received a death sentence and those who serve life time sentences to Syria as an opportunity to be released from prison and as a chance to clear their record.

International lawyer Christopher Black responded to Maya Naser´s information, stating that if his information was correct, then the Turkish government is committing a war crime under the Rome Statute, which forbids forced service of non-combatants in war.

According to Christopher Black it would be possible to file a complaint with the ICC against Turkey and NATO if corroborating evidence could be produced, stating that if Turkey is involved in these crimes, then its partners are equally guilty.

Two days later Maya Naser was shot by a sniper when he and his cameraman rushed to the scene of a double bomb attack in Damascus. Whether the timing of the assassination is coincidental or not it is certain that the death of Maya Naser may delay an investigation. It will not stop it.

I really don’t know where it is going. It is certainly depressing that it has reached that dead end and that every single friend and enemy of Syria is now involved in helping the killing of more Syrians.
Until one of the groups realizes that it’s becoming powerless and isolated, the violence will continue.

The interview with Guenter Meyer is the most thorough analysis I’ve read of the situation in Syria and the region for a long time.

I don’t know who is behind this series of videos, it does cost money and he has studio camera. For sure he is backed and scripted by someone or some group. He is wrong on many issues; probably he is a chill and disinformation campaign. But he does deliver in an entertaining presentation a very hard to accept and understand subjects. Even if he is not telling all the truth, there is a whole lot for beginners. Watch his video please, here is just 2:

Restoring Syria’s uprising to its peoplehttp://www.redressonline.com/restoring-syrias-uprising-to-its-people/
../../..
On Syria, the Zionist strategist called for dividing the country into an “Alawi state along its coast, a Sunni state in the Aleppo area, another Sunni state in Damascus … and the Durzes … in the Hauran and in northern Jordan…”

Obama’s recently-revealed approval of an intelligence “finding” authorizing a CIA role in the Syrian conflict may signify now a new liberal Zionist Israeli proxy war in Syria. Israel’s dominion obsession is a menace endangering the stability of the region and world peace.

http://rt.com/programs/crosstalk/october-surprise-israel-iran/
October surprise
After years of threats, will Israel attack Iran? And is Iran really a danger to Israel? What role does the US play in all this? Is Netanyahu terrified of Obama? And how will the US-Israeli relations evolve? CrossTalking with Miko Peled and Gideon Levy.

The Devil (rep*tilia*n) is real. No doubt about that should be in your mind. That he has corrupted this planet ERUDU and its human ADAMU is evident today to all. The image you grew up with at Catholic schools as I did, with red scaly skins, horns and tail, holding pitch fork is exactly the true image thereof. That he has hybrids and men worshipping him and doing his bid to control us human, enslave us and rob the earth resources, all to confront his enemies in heaven, age wars on them, is beyond any myth. It’s all now a fact.

You will learn more about this Devil, known in Islam as” Iblis”, and his “Jins” by clicking and watching the videos in the last few comments links pasted .

UN Resolution on Syria Inadmissiblehttp://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_28/UN-Resolution-on-Syria-Inadmissible/
The resolution on Syria of the United Nations Human Rights Council contains a number of “inadmissible clauses”, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maria Khodynskaya-Golenishcheva said, commenting on Russia’s vote against this document.
“One can’t agree with the unilateral conclusions concerning the tragedy in El-Houleh as well as with the fact that these murders are similar to other such incidents in Syria,” she said.

The Russian diplomat says that the investigation should be completed instead of accusing the government of having insufficient proof.

There are countries that are actually encouraging terrorism in Syria – therefore, we have no doubt that the episode in El-Houleh is being intentionally hyped in the media and is being used for the purpose of a forceful scenario regarding that country, Khodynskaya-Golenishcheva stressed.

The El Houleh Village became known after the mass murder of 116 people there at the end of May.

What is inadmissible is the role of Russia in this whole affair. The pseudo dictatorship of mafious Putin and co. is leading the chaos strategy in the region by supporting a crazy and isolated remnant of the past, Assad The Last. They will pay a high price for their dirty politics towards the syrian people and the arab spring in the region. History books will be written later and read by billions of people who will perceive the Russian Mafia as the cause of many massacres and humanitarian disasters. Not to talk about Iran that will disappear in some months or years.

Putin criticises Western policy in Syriahttp://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/531145.html
NOVO-OGAREVO, September 27 (Itar-Tass) —— President Vladimir Putin critised the West over its policy with regard to Syria.
“The main point is that our partners cannot stop. They have already created an atmosphere of chaos in many territories and are now continuing the same policy in other countries, including Syria,” Putin said on Thursday, September 27.
At a meeting with Ryazan region residents, one of them asked the head of state about his position with regard to developments in the Middle East and Syria.
“Our position is to facilitate changes for the better in all countries without imposing what we consider right, especially by force, but rather to inspire development from within,” he said, adding that this is Russia’s position on the situation in Arab countries and Syria.
“We cautioned about the need to act carefully, without imposing anything by force in order to avoid chaos. And what do we see now? The situation looks very much like chaos,” Putin said.
“Russia has always been advantageously distinct from other countries” as it “developed as a multiethnic and multi-confessional state”, he said, adding, “Initially our leading confession — Orthodoxy – was very tolerant to other religions”.
“A super task now is to ensure that a representative of each ethnic group, even the smallest one, if he lives in this territory and is a citizen of this country, feels absolutely equal with all others, that he understands that he personally and his children can implement the most ambitious plans and that there are no restrictions for him and he will not be infringed upon in any way,” the president said.
He stressed that the Russian state “has never imposed its will” or charter on anyone. “On the whole, we have always respected all ethnic groups, peoples and religions inside the country and tried to convey this in the international arena,” Putin said.
“The first large-scale ethnic cleansing known to mankind took place between the Roman Empire and Carthage, which is located in the territory of modern North Africa. The Roman Empire not only seized and occupied Carthage but, after everything had been destroyed and everyone slain, also poured salt all over to make sure than nothing ever grew there,” Putin recalled.
He believes it necessary to speak not only about the many good things inherited by European culture from Rome, but about such negative facts as well.
“I would not like to see a recurrence of what happened in the history of mankind many centuries ago. But I think something like that is happening again when strong countries try to impose their rules of conduct and their moral code on weak ones, without measuring their actions against history, traditions and religion of the relevant country,” the president said.
He underlined that “it is extremely important [for Russia] to preserve inter-confessional peace” and called on society to pool efforts in solving this task.

The Syrian government may have moved some of its chemical weapons to safeguard them against rebel forces, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said at a Friday press conference.

While some weapons were moved to locations unknown to US intelligence, Panetta said the main storage sites remain secure and under government control.

“There has been intelligence that there have been some moves that have taken place. Where exactly that’s taken place, we don’t know,” the defense secretary told reporters at the Pentagon. “I don’t have any specific information about the opposition and whether or not they’ve obtained some of this or how much they’ve obtained and just exactly what’s taken place.”

Panetta’s press conference was the first time the Pentagon confirmed movements of at least some of the chemical weapons to locations even the Central Intelligence Agency could not determine. As a result of the move, US officials are worried the weapons could come into the hands of the opposition. After Panetta was asked whether or not Iran’s Revolutionary Guard or the rebel forces may have gained access to the chemical weapons, he said he cannot confirm or deny it.

Last I heard that most of ALCIADA did convert to Satanic Wahabism and have moved to live underground too, and are now LOUAT practisioners and high on opium. Don’t fool me you are Syrian, if you are, why are you hiding, don’t tell me you are afraid of Assad Mukhabrat that, as you say, in control of less than 25% of Syria. Show me undisputed proof that you are Syrian, and I will show you a Syrian converted to devil worship form of Islam.

No I am not afraid of anything. And no mukhabarat can touch a single hair of mine.

But I have no incentive to prove anything and especially to you. After all no one knows your presumed family down to the street and alley better than I if you can decipher my last words.

That Is besides the point. I find your posts entertataining and your play with thumbs up/down quite amusing. Did not every one tell you already you are a deranged ego maniac?

I still would say that you should work on your fantastic machines. That is where you would excel and make best use of your time, even though I know for a fact that your conceptually flawed with your designs. Your likes are not up to the challenge of the Sauds or Abd Al-Wahhab. Basically, you are nothing – so insignificant in comparison with the big leagues just like a little little lilliputian.

@VISITOR, May your Lord Alcida Bin Wahab, lord of the Abyss and underworld bless you and make you fruitful.

Where did Alciada hired you from, let me guess, out of the street, you answered a radio ad commercial on K1070, but they were asking for pussies to apply!. You must have passed that lie detector test, that you are not “BY” and drug free for the past 2 hour, or you can fly a plane from Columbia to Miami.

The designs are not flawed as many has hoped, they passed examination from 15 patent office including U.K. U.S. Germany, Russia, India, China others, patent issued. Three reasons why it was not commercialized as of yet, first, They have military application, it permits countries like Syria or Iran, North Korea to pretty much control land sea and air on this plant by remote control. Even terrorist organizations like Hizboulah can maintain far more superior military posture against Jewsland. Second, there never existed an auto good enough for it, until this week, BENZ came out with one. Third, it has economic and political effects that needed to leverage strategically. It can make or break nations. It can break Saudi Arabia and Iran, Russia, but Help Israel drastically, for example. It can help Syria, but why would I want to help Assad? What did he do for me or SNP.

So I am not saying all that for you, I know you are drugged and brainwashed, a basket case. I am saying it to others who are also saying and asking the same. Will see how things evolves (in Syria that is) between now and March 2013, then will decide the fate of nations, literally, no boasting or kidding here, I am not kidding ya, I mean it, FATE OF NATIONS, militarily and economically. New Technologies can make them and breaks them.

You are smart dude, you can figuer that out. I bet you work for Government Saks. Since you are a Syria lover, I am gonna give you a good advise, gold heading to $2400 next stop and Saks going to be soaked. And don’t worry about viruses in computers, Wahabism is the worst kind of virus infecting mankind and no ne seems to care, neither should you, enjoy this, relax and get excited:

Thanks, but I think it’s wise not to click on any links posted here by you.

That virus affecting your computer and coming out in the comments section (refer again #52 & #53) is a flashing red warning but doesn’t seem to worry you. Instead you try to distract me from the subject.

The only dogs been barking we all hear their barks for 19 months are the Islamists and their financial and media backers, all while one see one victorious caravan on the march, Assad’s army decimating the little barking hyenas pretending, and trying, to fool us all that they are dogs.

مقتل الملازم أول الفار “عثمان شيخاني” أحد قيادي المجموعات المسلحة مع عدد من أفراد مجموعته في جبل الكراد بريف اللاذقية
Sheikhani is AR Tlas of Latakia’s northern Reef. Positions on the Lebanese borders were bombed today in addition to areas in Homs , Damascus , idleb, Dayr azzour and Halab. This clearly shows that the focus for both fighting parties is to make decisive gains on the ground before November , after that the winning side, if there is one, will only accept a settlement on its terms.
A rebel leaders in Aleppo gave an interesting testimony on aljazeera, the conclusion was that the rebels have no choice but to try to end the stalemate, the leader stayed away from commenting on reports that the rebels are trapped and do not have enough ammunition to fight for more than few weeks. One rebel commandor chose to condemn Turkey for doing nothing when jet fighters passed within few hundred meters from the borders.
The rebels in Aleppo ,despite aljazeera claims, have not yet scored any meaningful victory in Aleppo but others dealt a significant blow to the regime by attacking the army HQ in Damascus and made it clear that they can still attack and destroy, without a foreign intervention the rebels may have to go back to their old tactic of small scale attacks after they realized that they can not depend on the West, Turkey or the AL.
The bloody fight continues.

The rebels also threatened to confront locally-based Kurdish militant groups who they said they suspected of supporting Assad.

They said the groups were linked to Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK) which has been fighting for autonomy in neighbouring Turkey.

One rebel leader issued a warning to the Kurds through the Facebook page for the Tawheed Brigade, the largest rebel unit in Aleppo.

“Tawheed Brigade leader Abdelqadir al-Saleh made a final request by phone to the PKK gangs, to drop their weapons immediately and not drag themselves into a losing battle that is not their fight,” it said.

“Whoever carries arms in the face of the opposition battalions will find themselves under fire.”

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
The leaders of Syrian armed rebels, Free Syrian Army, have not returned to Syria unlike they claimed so earlier, but travel back and forth to Syria from Turkey, according to Syrian National Council members

Different members of the Syrian opposition, who spoke on condition of anonymity, have claimed leaders of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) have not returned to Syria as was claimed by the FSA leadership, but travel back and forth to Syria from Turkey.
…
In the video al-Asaad did not say when the move took place, or where in Syria the FSA’s new headquarters were. However, last week Brigader General Mustafa al-Sheikh of the FSA’s military council told the Associated Press that the FSA’s move into Syria was made the previous week and “aimed to unite all rebel groups.”

A prominent member of the SNC said the commanders of the FSA based in the Apaydın camp of southern city of Hatay in Turkey don’t have any power or existence in Syria.

“The fighters in Syria don’t recognize them as their leaders, there are different groups in Syria and they recognize the leader of their own brigade as their leaders. For instance the rebels in Aleppo listen to the orders of the regional FSA leader, Abdulcabbar Agadi, not the leaders in Turkey,” an SNC member said.

“The leader of FSA Colonel al-Asaad, leader of the FSA’s military council Gen. al-Seyh and several other leaders went to Syria but came back the following day,” he said.

Speaking of myth, the only myth out there is your ignoring that part of history that matters most. For that reason, I brought the movie at the link below. Unfortunately, it is in Turkish. But everyone including you, I believe, is quite familiar with the events that it portrays. I was trying to rephrase the filtered comment as I promised you, and I came across this video and thought it is most suitable for ‘your eyes only’ to view in order to awaken you from your deep slumber,

As you may guess it portrays the final end of the beast with the ten horns. Our most Revered Prophet (PBUH) told us about the event over 800 years before it came to pass in a form of speech which conveys the certainty of the occurrence as to leave no room for doubts whatsoever,

لتفتحن القسطنطينية فلنعم الامير اميرها ولنعم الجيش ذلك الجيش٠

And so it came to pass.

You should know that was the end of Byzantium, the ten-horned beast, and for ever for that matter. As Syrians we should say: good riddance.
The history that you’re ignoring is this story of the ten-horned beast and the disgust and repulsion it engendered in our ancestors of Mesopotamia as well as Egypt and North Africa, that when the victorious Arab Muslims came out from the desert they were received with open arms and greeted as saviours and liberators from the beast. You must be familiar with the futile debate that began with Nicaea Councils and continued endlessly for few centuries with the aim to resolve the non-issue of the true nature of Jesus as to whether he was of one, two, three or of more natures, and whether he was human, divine, human-divine or something else. When the Muslims came, our ancestors immediately recognized the Truth of Islam and accepted it in droves as they were sick and tired of your ten-horned beast heresy to which you cling up to the present by calling him god. As a reminder, when Hercules was kicked out of Damascus he headed north, and after leaving Aleppo he looked back and knew right then and there that there is no going back. So he bid his final farewell to Bilad al-Cham literally saying good-bye forever: وداعا يا سوريا وداعا لا لقاء بعده. The fact that your Byzantine idol, or the ten-horned beast, was confined to this city of Constantinople 800 years after the liberation of Mesopotamia and the rest of the world speaks volume about the presumed effects of this ten-horned beast on Islamic civilization. It can be expressed in a single short word: nil.

As for the Umayyads, contrary to what you falsely claim, they were devout Muslims from the time of the first Umayyad Caliph, Muawiya, who was and is still known as the Scribe of the Revelation. He was one of the brightest, shrewdest, and most intelligent Arabia ever produced.

In one of your previous comment, you insinuated that my ‘ancestors’ imposed jizya on your ancestors. You also implied that the indigenous population converted to Islam out of economic incentives in order to avoid paying the jizya. This is the biggest and dumbest piece of crap anyone can come up with in order to falsify history. I can see only one reason anyone may come up with such nonsense. It is the poisonous stories you were fed by your ancestors.

As I mentioned, the people of Mesopotamia, Egypt and North Africa converted in droves out of conviction. But here is a rebuttal of your crap. When a non-Muslim converts to Islam he will have to pay zakat which is equivalent or even higher than the jizya he would have paid as non-Muslim. Jizya and zakat are no more than taxes that we currently pay governments for services. My ‘ancestors’ imposed jizya on your ancestors in return for protection and the freedom to practice their chosen creed. You should be thankful for your existence due to that noble and honorable act of my ancestors.

Christian Spaniards were not as forgiving and magnanimous when they took control of al-Andalusia from my ‘ancestors’.

9 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
——————————————————————————————————————————————-

Please note this verse it is Revelation 9/11 ODD!!! The king name is DESTROYER

9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

No Ghufran the Baathist political officers are scared and long ago understood Baathism failed and is dead, wants out now and negotiate a deal with oppositions while Assad militarily strong, to get a better deal, save their heads and some of the political positions. But the Alawites Juntas and Alawaites securities chiefs are ammo-counters. In their mind, for how they are trained, they see a win-win situation against rag-tag militants (this is just how I see it that is the mind set), remember, this is the Syrian army that waged war 3 times against Israel, they fight countries, not thugs with rifles and dull knives. At their disposal is wide range of strategic weapons, make no mistake they will use it if they are cornered, they will go dead, suicides, dump everything in their arsenal and let others worry about the mess the day after than surrender to the Islamists rag tags. You can call it whatever demeaning sectarian names, those who do, are fooling themselves, very ignorant, this army is the one that landed on the Golan in 1973 and did most of the fighting in that war as well as they fought in Lebanon Civil War. They are vicious warriors, hard core Soviet academies’ trained, not sissy Scottish pipe blowing Royal Jordanian Bedouin Hagganeh.

Assad has no choice but to abide by their decision, he care less about the Baathists political appointees that are now effectively useless to him and are no longer wanted by Syrians, a net liabilities pretty much now, they have not an ounce of assets for Syrians and therefore for Assad. Should Assad object to the Alawites Military Chiefs, the Juntas will replace him with a figure head, or military rule under Marshal Law, rule the country as in Sate of War, and no one will know who to address then. For these guys, it is all about military matters, nothing political or social not even economy issue of any concerns to them. For as long as they are counting ammo and arsenal and think they can beat the other guy, they keep at it. Only when they see an assured military defeat, when the ammo count does not add up, is then will see it as the bankrupt Baathist politicians already seen it and get scared, tell Assad: make a deal. For now, they are telling him, it is almost over and like your father Hafez; you will be the next Sphinx of the Middle East.

SNP will support a move by Assad to declare State of War and Marshal Law, rule under military junta council, dissolve all other old Baathist institutions, nationwide 22 hours curfews’ with shoot to kill orders for anything mammalian moving. Every Areal craft on patrol and ready to fire, general draft for all able bodies ready to defend the nation. But like the rest of Syrians our support will only be if Assad is interested in transition of Syria, not going back to the old Syria, which most likely will be worse than what we started with. I really don’t know why Assad cannot see that unless he make the transition to a fairer and free Syria, away from old Syria, he will end up having to fight to the last man and last cartridge. These Gulf States have no short of money or men, they can stay put and feed this insurgency for decades, 20,000 or 20 million Syrians dead is of no concerns to them. Is that what Bashar would wants his rule to be termed. Does he want others to dictate what his life and Syria is going to be or does he wants to take control of his life and Syria.

Where is this obsession of Alawite complex, having to rule Syria alone according to their wishes coming from? Is it these Zionist Shia Mullahs in Tehran after it, or just the Alawites. Syria is for all Syrians, and the Baathists Socialist scum back had cartel the nation for too long.

No Ghufran the Baathist political officers are scared and long ago understood Baathism failed and is dead, wants out now and negotiate a deal with oppositions while Assad militarily strong, to get a better deal, save their heads and some of the political positions. But the Alawi Juntas and Alawi securities chiefs are ammo-counters. In their mind, for how they are trained, they see a win-win situation against rag-tag militants (this is just how I see it that is the mind set), remember, this is the Syrian army that waged war 3 times against Israel, they fight countries, not thugs with rifles and dull knives. At their disposal is wide range of strategic weapons, make no mistake they will use it if they are cornered, they will go dead, suicides, dump everything in their arsenal and let others worry about the mess the day after than surrender to the Islamists rag tags. You can call it whatever demeaning sectarian names, those who do, are fooling themselves, very ignorant, this army is the one that landed on the Golan in 1973 and did most of the fighting in that war as well as they fought in Lebanon Civil War. They are vicious warriors, hard core Soviet academies’ trained, not sissy Scottish pipe blowing Royal Jordanian Bed*ouin Hag*ganeh.

Assad has no choice but to abide by their decision, he care less about the Baathists political appointees that are now effectively useless to him and are no longer wanted by Syrians, a net liabilities pretty much now, they have not an ounce of assets for Syrians and therefore for Assad. Should Assad object to the Alawi Military Chiefs, the Juntas will replace him with a figure head, or military rule under Marshal Law, rule the country as in State of War, and no one will know who to address then. For these guys, it is all about military matters, nothing political or social not even economy issue of any concerns to them. For as long as they are counting ammo and arsenal and think they can beat the other guy, they keep at it. Only when they see an assured military defeat, when the ammo count does not add up, is then will see it as the bankrupt Baathist politicians already seen it and get scared, tell Assad: make a deal. For now, they are telling him, it is almost over and like your father Hafez; you will be the next Sphinx of the Middle East.

SNP will support a move by Assad to declare State of War and Marshal Law, rule under military junta council, dissolve all other old Baathist institutions, nationwide 22 hours curfews’ with shoot to kill orders for anything mammalian moving. Every Areal craft on patrol and ready to fire, general draft for all able bodies ready to defend the nation. But like the rest of Syrians our support will only be if Assad is interested in transition of Syria, not going back to the old Syria, which most likely will be worse than what we started with. I really don’t know why Assad cannot see that unless he make the transition to a fairer and free Syria, away from old Syria, he will end up having to fight to the last man and last cartridge. These Gulf States have no short of money or men, they can stay put and feed this insurgency for decades, 20,000 or 20 million Syrians dead is of no concerns to them. Is that what Bashar would wants his rule to be termed. Does he want others to dictate what his life and Syria is going to be or does he wants to take control of his life and Syria.

Where is this obsession of Alawi complex, having to rule Syria alone according to their wishes coming from? Is it these Zio*nist Shia Mulla*hs in Tehran after it, or just the Alawi. Syria is for all Syrians, and the Baathists Socialist had cartel the nation for too long.

I did enjoy it very much actually. Because it gave me the pleasure of the confirmed knowledge about the obtuseness of your argumentation skills. They are no different than your educational level: nil.

You want to know why? I’ll show you with facts based on your own statements again.

Your pseudo-argument began by denying any connection between atheism and secularism. I was kind to you and used the more accurate term of western secularism to make the distinction. But you lost it because of some dullness in your upper faculties.

And here you are again using none but an atheist to support you!!

That is childish on your part at the least, and hypocritical if you have any credible educational level or argumentation skills.

But yes I did enjoy the show. It was superb and I felt elated because of the above.

When you’re ready for it, I will give you a reference to a book that will teach you the basics of argumentation. It is a classic that every debater must study, and you cannot do without it if you want to continue this activity.

In my opinion you are fascists or psychopaths. Just an opinion. You can like it or not but it would not change anything anyway. You should be killing yourselves with Assad milicias. It would be the best way to guarantee a clean society for the future.

[Hamza El-Khatib] alleged to have been killed,[tortured], raped, it’s all a joke.
It was after a sermon of preaching sheikhs of Deraa and villages nearby,: ” go attack the homes of Syrian military, as what they are Alawites ”
/ … /
They therefore called on the people to go to attack the military compound and ransack homes while officers were absent,

By Erika Solomon | Reuters – 22 minutes ago
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hundreds of shops were burning in the ancient covered market of the Old City of Aleppo on Saturday as fighting between rebels and state forces in Syria’s largest city threatened to destroy a UNESCO world heritage site.
….

In Aleppo, activists speaking via Skype said army snipers were making it difficult to approach the Souk al-Madina, the medieval market of vaulted stone alleyways and carved wooden facades that was once a major tourist attraction.

Videos uploaded to YouTube showed dark black clouds hanging over the city skyline.

Activists said the fire might have been started by heavy shelling and gunfire on Friday and estimated that 700 to 1,000 shops had been destroyed so far. The accounts are difficult to verify because the government restricts access to foreign media.

Aleppo’s Old City is one of several locations in Syria declared world heritage sites by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, that are now at risk from the fighting.
…
“No one is actually making gains here, it is just fighting and more fighting, and terrified people are fleeing,” said an activist contacted by telephone who declined to be named.

He said bodies were lying in the streets and residents were not going out to collect them for fear of snipers.

these sleeper cells before the battle of Aleppo, they invested the old neighborhoods, and day after day they rented, [poor] people leased, ….
My brother [in Aleppo ] told me : "you have a house worth next to nothing, they pay you ten times its price, you sell!"
We saw this near us in Nayyal , a clan very close to Saudi Arabia, they bought the buildings, they have transformed the storeys of the buildings in arm caches, and they take on the army.
….

That said, the Syrian army did not hesitate to raze entire neighborhoods but how?
After summation, they said: "Get out! Deliver Islamists you harbor, leave".
They set checkpoints, and search people. After that, if the terrorists are still shooting , then the "MiGs" are involved and attack, which really put all the buildings to the ground.

Aleppo, who vehemently refused to join the rebels in their bloody ‘revolution’ is now paying the highest price of hatred and envy.
The bitter and frustrated rebels took their revenge of the destruction of Hama by destroying Aleppo.
It is clear that this is one of the great idealistic drive of that sordid and primitive revolution: revenge.

NEW YORK // The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton yesterday announced an increase in non-lethal aid to civilian opposition groups and reiterated Washington’s demands that “as the bodies keep piling up in morgues … the Syrian regime must end”.

She opened a session of the pro-opposition Friends of Syria group on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and said the US was releasing an additional US$30 million (Dh110m) for food and medical services for Syrian civilians “suffering under the relentless assaults” of president Bashar Al Assad’s government.

The US would also provide another $15 million to unarmed opposition groups in satellite phones, cameras and other equipment to help them “strengthen their networks and document human rights abuses”, Mrs. Clinton said.
…
“But the regime’s most important lifeline is Iran,” Mrs Clinton said, citing Iran’s admission this week that Iranian Revolutionary Guards are operating inside Syria. “Iran will no doubt do what ever it takes to help its proxy and crony in Damascus.”‘

…
There are few people who know more about genocide than Canadian Senator Roméo Dallaire. As the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Rwanda in 1994, he did his best to protect the country’s Tutsi minority from a rising tide of Hutu hatred. Yet his small force, hobbled as it was by the UN’s limited rules of engagement, could not prevent the carnage that unfolded. Over three months, 800,000 Rwandans were hacked to death amidst scenes of medieval-style bloodlust.
….
And so you might think that Sen. Dallaire would be an active proponent of large-scale military intervention in Syria, where more than 30,000 people already have died violently over the last 18 months. But the man’s views on this subject actually are quite nuanced. His experiences have led him to believe that the best time for the world community to act is early in a crisis. As the Iraq War shows, once the slaughter begins, it is difficult for even advanced Western armies to stanch the flow of blood.
….
The “Responsibility to Protect” doctrine suggests that Western nations, including Canada, should do everything in their power to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity in war-torn nations. But in Syria’s case, this aspiration runs up against a more basic proposition: “First, do no harm.” A humanitarian intervention that may serve to increase the total body count is no humanitarian intervention at all.

Recent talks between the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels appear to have hit a hard spot. The Egyptian peace initiative is on the rocks after the failure of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to show up; various other efforts continue but the Emir of Qatar conveyed his pessimism poignantly on Tuesday by calling for an Arab military intervention in the country at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

Though it is also remotely possible that this is the proverbial darkest moment before dawn breaks – the latest developments can also be interpreted as tough bargaining – what is happening on the ground is far from encouraging.

Amid a major terror campaign in the capital, Damascus, and some of the bloodiest fighting of the conflict so far, the chaos in the country is growing by the day. Different militias and warlords are mushrooming, indicating that a failure to stop the violence now would result in a protracted conflict that will end only when all the different sides are completely exhausted from the bloodshed.

The inability of the international community to send the demons back to the box the Arab spring has opened and who are destroying the country

Legacy in ruins
September 29, 2012 12:18 AM
The Daily Star

The scene in Syria does not change. Three different international meetings have taken place over recent days to discuss the situation, amid some of the bloodiest fighting the conflict has so far seen.

Thanks to their sheer number, it has become impossible to keep track of all of the meetings that have been held with the purported aim of putting an end to some of the bloodshed. Every interested party has held their own, all with similar outcomes.

None have bothered to address what the Syrians are asking for. All put their own interests and agenda to the forefront in their considerations.

Yet Western countries, headed by the United States, are happy to laud those fighting in Syria, because they are fighting for freedom and democracy. But they do this knowing full well that those they laud do not have the capabilities or the equipment for this fight. They cannot succeed while they fight Assad’s military with their own makeshift weaponry and relatively low numbers.

When Western states rightly decry the atrocities of Assad and those who fight in his name, they must also consider their own responsibilities, and the blame they must take for their role.

In their procrastination regarding action in Syria, they have been complicit in allowing the uprising to develop into what it seems will shortly be full-scale civil war.

This week Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League mediator on the crisis, said he needed more time to create a concrete plan for peace, saying he wanted to be able to fully assess the situation, and understand what is necessary and desired in the country.

The truth is that this is a cover. Brahimi is buying time, instead of admitting that there is nothing he can do until the U.S. elections are over. Instead of playing with words, he should be honest and open that the future of U.S. policymaking will be the deciding factor in what happens in Syria.

Even then, it is important to acknowledge that action will not happen swiftly. In the unlikely event that Mitt Romney wins the election, it will be several months before he is in any position to take action. At the rate of deaths in Syria, several months will be devastating.

Even should Barack Obama win, it is naive to think he will simply press a button to kickstart action.

So far the main U.S. concern appears to be the whereabouts of Syria’s chemical weapons, an obvious move to appease Israel.

Yet they continue to discuss plans and measures to end the conflict. Their duplicity brings hope to innocent Syrians, making their talk appear as a treacherous plot when no action is forthcoming.

Meanwhile the world becomes numbed to the rising death toll, and the only thing that can be relied upon in this conflict is that the longer it continues, whoever wins, will inherit only ruins

So it is revenge after all. This is revenge for the destruction of Hama!!!!. So Hama was destroyed after all!!!!!. So a massacre did happen in Hama!!!!!. So Aleppo is also being destroyed!!!!. It is being destroyed with RPG and machine guns?. Not by 155 mm cannon and not by 2000 lb bomb?. Whole buildings and sections of the city being destroyed by these puny weapons right?

Now if this is the revenge against Aleppo what would happen to those areas that are actively supporting the regime? I wonder, would it be Hama-like? or would it be Homs-like? or would it be Atareb-like? or perhaps Rastan-like or Zabadani-like or Tadammoun-like?

Joking? a dead boy is a joke?

But wait, I did visit SANA and we have great news: the olive harvest is great, the cotton harvest is better, the remnants of the foreign mercenaries are being chased out, the brave soldiers have retaken the HQ building, Tal Abiad is being cleansed, infiltrations from Lebanon are being prevented, and no there is no veracity to the formation of a 60 000 militia.

But this is not the best: the best of the best is the defection back of the defectors. They have returned to the sweet and gentle and forgiving security services of the state. The same MAN EATERS that we have boasting about on this blog.

SANA is in my opinion the greatest producer of the best series of soap operas ever.

It is most telling that we have postings of what I call news of mass distraction.

Posting repeatedly and whole sections is of course intellectual bankruptcy but ever now and then, a post comes forth with thoughts about it. Like the revenge against Aleppo for the destruction of Hama above.

It’s far less dangerous for the rebels to punish the well-off Sunni and Christians bourgeois of Aleppo in a city full of mazes where they can use the peaceful ‘bourgeois’ as human shields and source of money.

When hatred is the motor and no heroism, you choose the easiest target.
Ask that question to the supporters of the “glorious” and pathetic FSA. They have no place in the future of Syria.

Wahhabism or Salafism is neither “reptilian” (what a joke!) devil worship nor is it foreign to Syria. That being said, it’s not representative of Islam in Syria nor is it acceptable in terms of orthodoxy. Sunni Islam is founded upon the four traditional schools of law, the Ash`ari creed and Sufism. Wahhabism on the other hand is heresy and heterodox on many grounds. This shouldn’t mean it doesn’t have a place in a free Syria, for it has a place in nearly every free Muslim or non-Muslim society in the world. It has been growing in Syria and will likely continue to grow as such is the natural outcome of things. Nevertheless, it remains to be a minority, not that much different from other Muslim or non-Muslim minorities. As for Qa`idists and other types whose ideology and actions are based on terror and tyranny, they have no future in any free country. Some of them have made a big mistake by becoming a grave robbing cult and are hunted down for it in Libya, Somalia and other places. Syria would become the worst place of all for them. What has happened in the Hijaz hasn’t been forgotten, and despite everything it failed. Any “Syrian Muslim” who is waiting for the same to happen in Syria should get ready for a fight, for there is no way the Sunnis will stand by as one destroyer of religion is replaced by another. For the record, Shaykh `Abd al-Wahhab is not at all the founder of Wahhabism, he is the father of Muhammad Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab who is the founder of Wahhabism. His father was a traditional Shaykh, as was his brother Sulayman, and neither of them supported the Wahhabi heresy.

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International
Thu, 27/09/2012

The Tunisian authorities must drop indecency charges against a woman who was summoned to court on Wednesday after she had complained that police officers raped her earlier this month, Amnesty International said.

The commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Government forces and the Shabbiha had committed the crimes against humanity of murder and of torture, war crimes and gross violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including unlawful killing, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence, indiscriminate attack, pillaging and destruction of property. The commission found that Government forces and Shabbiha members were responsible for the killings in Al-Houla.
The commission confirms its previous finding that violations were committed pursuant to State policy. Large-scale operations conducted in different governorates, their similar modus operandi, their complexity and integrated military-security apparatus indicate the involvement at the highest levels of the armed and security forces and the Government. The Shabbiha were identified as perpetrators of many of the crimes described in the present report

London, Asharq Al-Awsat – Sunni leadership sources in Amman and Istanbul revealed that “Iraqi Sunni figures have held many meetings in Istanbul with a view to forming a Sunni authority and to pave the way for the creation of an Arab Sunni region in Iraq.” Furthermore, they pointed out that “the Association of Muslim Scholars, led by Harith al-Dhari, participated in these meetings with former Iraqi MP Adnan al-Dulaimi, a representative of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, and a number of Sunni groups”.

These sources spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday via telephone, under the condition of anonymity. They said that “Iraqi Arab Sunni figures have convened for three meetings in Istanbul, two of which were preliminary, while the founding conference was held ten days ago”. Additionally, they pointed out that “despite the absence of Turkish participation in these meetings – the Turks have never declared their intentions to form a Sunni region – Turkey has at least hosted and sponsored them. What was once thought to be mere rumors has today transformed into practical, openly declared action”.

TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya, (Reuters) – Authorities in Libya thwarted plans for a huge demonstration against militia in the capital Tripoli on Friday, while in Benghazi, scene of mass anti-militia protests last week, supporters of an ousted Islamist group returned to the streets.

Activists had hoped that a planned demonstration in the capital would be as successful as a giant anti-militia protest held in Benghazi last week, but only about 400 protesters turned up on Friday after the country’s mufti and mosque preachers warned people not to attend.

عبد القادر الصالح القائد الميداني لـ«لواء التوحيد» قال أنه “يوجه طلباً أخيراً لعصابات البي كي كي (حزب العمال الكردستاني) بإلقاء سلاحهم فوراً وعدم الزج بأنفسهم في معركة خاسرة ليس لهم فيها ناقة ولا جمل وأنه من دخل بيته فهو آمن ومن يحمل السلاح في وجه الكتائب المقاتلة ستكون نيران البندقية إليه أقرب”.
Reports from GCC media about the fall of Shaikh Maqsoud turns out to be false,that what was behind Alsaleh statement.
I think the Kurds have made up their mind to the dismay of Turkey and the rebels, the end result may not please the regime but it means bringing an end to any efforts to win the Kurds over to the side of armed rebels who are now doing the dirty work on behalf of Turkey, this is further evidence that the revolution is over, it is a civil war in many parts of Syria, western officials are now more hesitant to support the rebels,even the British FM is asking for a unity government that includes some members of the regime, this position is a clear departure from UK previous rhetoric.

Copts in Rafah are leaving after receiving death threats and their stores getting looted and destroyed, a denial by the Egyptian government was not enough to hide that fact, Sinai will be coptsless, new commandors in the egyptian army have yet to do anything to protect the Copts in Sinai, Morsi forced 70 high ranking generals into early retirement, witthin few years the MB will dominate the army.

Ahmad al-Halabi, an activist based in Aleppo, said residents were struggling to control the blaze with a limited number of fire extinguishers and low water supply: “It’s a disaster. The fire is threatening to spread to remaining shops,” he said. “It is a very difficult and tragic situation there.”

The souks of Aleppo, a maze of vaulted passageways with shops that sell everything from foods to fabrics, perfumes, spices and artisan souvenirs, are a tactical prize for the combatants. They lie beneath the city’s towering citadel where activists say regime troops and snipers have taken up positions.

Many of the shops have wooden doors, and clothes, fabrics and leather wares inside helped spread the fire, activists said.

Lieberman and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) met with two top leaders of Free Syrian Army branches from different cities in Syria during their recent trip to Istanbul and heard firsthand about the U.S. operation to provide non-lethal aid to the rebels working to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But the satellite phones and organizational training Syrian opposition members can receive in Istanbul — as long as they are willing to make the long and dangerous journey to get them — is not what they really need, the opposition leaders told the senators.

“Not only are the people of Syria suffering, the United States is suffering diplomatically in the region,” Lieberman said in a telephone interview. “The people of the Middle East are following what’s happening in Syria. They’re siding with the people of Syria against Assad, and they are increasingly disappointed and angry with the U.S. for not taking a more active role.”

Per Al Arabya, Assad captured the 2 Turkish pilots alive, then killed them and drawned their bodies at the site of the plain crash. Erdogan will need an emergency colonoscopy when he hears it. Tune in on alArabya to watch.

Rebel support ‘pushes Syria deeper into the abyss of bloody sectarianism’ – Lavrovhttp://rt.com/news/lavrov-syria-un-general-assembly-265/
Those who insist on a ceasefire only by the Syrian government encourage the opposition to intensify its hostilities, and “take upon themselves an enormous responsibility,” Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
The shortest way to stop the loss of life in Syria, Lavrov said, is to adhere to the commitments in the Geneva communique, which were agreed upon by the Action Group as follow-up of the Kofi Annan Plan.
“We proposed to adopt a resolution in the UN Security Council that would endorse the Geneva communique as the basis for negotiations at the beginning of the transitional period, but this proposal had been blocked,” Lavrov noted.
“Those who oppose the implementation of the Geneva communique,” he explained, “in fact push Syria even deeper into the abyss of bloody sectarian strife.”
Lavrov noted that the deepening of internal conflict in Syria is of particular concern because the militarization of the conflict is combined with open calls for foreign intervention.
“We have consistently called for the consolidated efforts of the international community to compel the government and its opponents to immediately cease the violence and come to the negotiating table,” Lavrov said, adding that so far, there has been no progress in reaching unanimity on how to create conditions towards achieving that goal.
The foreign minister also expressed concern about the growing number of war crimes on both sides of the conflict, as recorded in a recent report by the UN Human Rights Council.
“Extremist organizations including al-Qaeda have become more active in Syria – they perpetrate terrorist attacks against innocent civilians and civil infrastructure,” Lavrov said.
The situation in the region requires the international community to use a comprehensive approach, and to reject “simplified and ideology-driven patterns and double standards,” the FM asserted.
He also condemned any unilateral sanctions “imposed by a state or a group of states sidestepping the United Nations to advance their political goals.”….

Someone needs to call Erdogan to let him know. I can’t wait to hear how he responds. Is he going to throw a temper tantrum? Does he need a Testosterone shot? Is he going to retaliate? Revenge is easy: provide the rebells with quality weapons to bring the fighting jets down and the FSA will do the rest.

Two Turkish pilots thought to have perished when their jet was shot down by Damascus on June 22 were actually rescued, interrogated and murdered by Syrian intelligence services, secret documents released tonight by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya news channel purport to show.
…
There was no immidiate comment from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

However, in addition to what you explained, al-Arabiya reveals that the pilots were transferred to HA and later were killed by orders from Assad

So, that may answer your question by asking another question. Did Turkey know about the pilots transfer and ordered the kidnapping of the HA ‘pilgrims’ in Aleppo?

I would say it did.

So it is a high profile game of cat and mouse. Would Erdogan become more aggressive as a result of new revelations? My answer: not before November, if ever.

Today, Davud Uglo threatened from NY retaliation against shells falling on Turkish territory from the Syrian side. But I wouldn’t take Uglo, being the author of the defunct zero-problem policy for Turkey, so seriously.

You said: “However, in addition to what you explained, al-Arabiya reveals that the pilots were transferred to HA and later were killed by orders from Assad”

Haha.. my dog says to you to come up with a better story.

شو هالتخريف يا…

My dog could come up with more plausible stories than al-Arabiyah any day any time…

Wait before I forget: my dog says that what is missing from your story to make it believable that that two pilots were taken to Qum where they were questioned and then killed and then transferred to the bottom of the sea north of Lattakia….

One of the heresies that plagued Islam was none but that of so-called sufism.

If you claim that sufis are members of the four known recognized mazhabs, then why do you need another name to describe them?

I bet you cannot come up with a coherent explanation as to where that word came from.

I do not recall there is such school of thought called sufism. There were the Sophists of the early Greeks but these have no resemblance whatsoever to your sufis. If you say that the sufis are originally Sophists, and some sufis claim that origin, then they are not Muslims. End of story

If you come up with the other explanation that they are those who used to wear wool, I do not recall any command in the Qura’n or Sunnah that requires such practice, not to mention making it a way of life.

I bet you also that you cannot come up with a coherent explanation as to why the ‘mureed’ has to behave like a dead body in the hands of his master sheikh. Have you ever been a dead body in the hands of any master sheikh?

I also bet you that you cannot justify such practice from anywhere in the Qura’n and Sunnah.

What is a master sheikh anyway? And why do you need him when you have the Quran and Sunnah?

You may claim that sufis are members of one of the four recognized mazhabs but that is only a claim. What matters is your actual practice.

As for Sheikh Abd al-Wahhab and I mean here, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, He is a known follower of the Hanbali school of thought and he made his mark known in history based on that. No so-called master sheikh or mureed can tarnish him and accuse him of heresy.

Al-Arabiya is the Arabic version of the Debrf file ! it is SIONIYA
Imagine that the U.S. and NATO intelligence and Turkish intelligence and cosmic was waiting this great news from Al-Arabiya!How these people underestimate the minds of viewers?

The morale of the story if you believes the usual fantasy world of Al Arabya:

When you spy with your plane and you get rescued, you are treated as a war spy and what civilized country do with spies: they torture them to make them talk about their ‘spying mission’ and after that, they are brought to where they were rescued and abandoned to their fate.

Strange, there was no autopsy made on these pilotes. Really, the Turks are careless. Besides that Al Arabya comes with the nth version of the downing of the plane.
Now it was downed by the Syrians by a Grad defense.

When medical scientists do a post mortem on Bashar Assad they will find a wizened dog turd instead of a brain.

Here’s historian David Lesch, who got close to Assad and knew him well, explaining what he discovered was going in inside Assad’s undersized head (and still shrinking daily):

David Lesch:

“… I think he just stopped thinking about it [reform] especially as he began to believe in the propaganda of the well-being of the country being synonymous with his own well-being.

“I think I quote Peter Harling [of the International Crisis Group], and I agree with him, that the Syrian regimes have a very low opinion of the people in Syria, that it’s a sick country, that it constantly needs tending by a regime that takes care of it. And I think once he bought into that notion that any serious political reform along the democratic model, or more pluralism, went out the window until it was way too late.”

Very good point. How come there was no autopsy performed on those pilots? Autopsy can easily determine the mechanism of death? Foul playing or drowning? Or Did Erdogan know all along? Is this going to turn out scandalous?

Whatever it is, I feel Erdogan is stuck. He will be viewed very negatively if he
does not respond aggressively enough. Where is the Turkish pride?

ZOO and AREAL and co. I am assuming that Lesch has had much more extensive direct contact with Bashar Assad than you (note, I am doing you the generous courtesy of not saying you must be personally familiar with the regime’s inner court – but who knows).

So is Lesch wrong? (quoted in #159)

Or can you offer alternative insight into the Assad regime’s thinking, based on sources with direct contact with Bashar and his circle?

Restorative justice in post-Assad Syria should include those pot-bellied regime apparatchiks and pseudo-military thugs running the army being put in chain gangs to rebuild Syria’s infrastructure and heritage buildings.

Their prison should be the open air of the ruins, and they should be fed according to the amount of work they do.

Slob Walid Moallam would quickly become the size of Asma Assad, whose recent photos suggest she is now suffering from anorexia.

In some countries , Syria’s current foreign policy is viewed as the problem.

In Syria , President Assad is not the problem , he is an essential part of the solution.

Although Churchill led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured , his party lost the 1945 election but he is now widely regarded as being among the most influential people in British history.

Transferring the pilots to HA was a suggestion made by General Bassam but was rejected later on in favor of murdering them. More to come to expose HA’s involvement in “al Qaeda” wide-sacle bombing incidents to later blame it on “terrorists”

“Based on information and guidance from the Russian leadership comes a need to eliminate the two Turkish pilots detained by the Special Operations Unit in a natural way and their bodies need to be returned to the crash site in international waters,” the document reportedly said.

One document reportedly indicated that Assad was willing to consider a suggestion by a general “Bassam” to transfer the two crewmembers to Lebanon, where they will be held captive by Hezbollah in order to serve as bargaining chips in a later time.

However, this suggestion was eventually rejected, the documents reportedly indicated, without specifying the points against it.

Al Arabiya claims to be in possession of hundreds of classified documents that shed light on the details of an Iranian and Russian involvement in the Assad regime, showing, among other claims, that Damascus’ two allies formed a joint command in Syria.

Furthermore, the leaked papers are said to indicate Hezbollah’s key role in assassinating key Syrian activists as well as orchestrating large-scale bombing attacks in order to sow chaos and instability in the war-torn country.

Little man saying larger than life statements. I am waiting for the “Visitor” to explain this.

Sufism has people like Muhiey al-Din Ibn Arabi that is, who by himself is a stalwart figure that is a school of thought by him self. If Ibn Arabi does not have a Sufi school of thought, who does have a school of thought in this Middle East?

If you are negating Ibn Arabi, and al-Rumi and al-Hallaj that means that you live under a rock.

Speaking of living under rocks, Wahabism came from such an environment. Wahabism wants its followers to live under rocks and not see or mingle with other people. If they mingle with other people, Wahabism instructs its adherents to look at these other people as something less than them. This explains the haughty tone of the likes of this “visitor.”

It is low times عصر الانحطاط when a man with average education negates the existence of something as shiny as the Sun called Sufis and Sufism. Sufism is superior to Wahabism at any given day.

The correct and more accurate expression is speaking out of both sides of your mouth.

The difference is obvious. From both sides means at the same time and in the same statement. While separate sides does not necessarily imply simultaneity or in the same statement.

You have to give those who practice this form of speech their proper dues. It takes a lot of practice as well as artistic skills to do it from both sides of the mouth. Anyone can do it from separate sides but it does not have the same effect.

I could easily tell when you do not consult with your trusted dog when you try to say something but instead you stutter like a child.

In this comment (168) MJ was speaking and not the dog. The dog cannot make such a dumb comment.

OK, I’ll make it simple for you. I asked the person concerned in my previous comment specific questions. The easiest of course is the origin of the name. You could at least have volunteered to provide an explanation to that simple question instead of going on such a diversion.

There are other questions of course in that comment and if you feel capable then by all means, and do not forget to consult your dog to avoid your usual and recurring pitfalls.

As for the persons you mentioned, there was no indication in my other comment whatsoever regarding their negation. You could have at least asked me directly whether I negate them or not. But I will volunteer a direct answer without you even asking.

As for Hallaj, I do not regret his execution.

As for al-Rumi, I am an admirer.

As for Muhyi al-Din, I have great reservations about him and definitely not an admirer.

I wonder though, who told you the term comes from sophistry? And who told you Sufism is or is claimed to be a school of thought? For your basic information and that of others, Sufism is an Islamic science pertaining to inner states, similar to how jurisprudence relates to acts or theology to creed. A Sufi is a scholar of said science, like a Faqih or a Mutakallim for the others. And like other sciences, it CONTAINS schools of thought (Tariqat in this case, Madhahib and Madaris for the others).

Generally speaking Wahhabism rejects ALL of this, not just Sufism, and replaces it with an anthropomorphic creed, do-it-yourself jurisprudence and materialism instead of spirituality, accompanied by an anathematizing attitude towards the Muslim community and its scholarship, traditions and history.

Muhammad Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab contravened the Hanbali school on many points which he was reprimanded for by its scholars of the time. Read their books. The first amongst them were his own father Shaykh `Abd al-Wahhab, and his brother Shaykh Sulayman Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab. Your admiration for Rumi and reservations about Ibn `Arabi shows that you know little of what this cult is about, which in this case is quite hopeful. I don’t know how you can reject Sufism without rejecting Rumi. Either way, whatever you wish to believe and whoever you wish to follow is up to you.

The point of my comment was something else: you are claiming to speak in the name of Syrian Muslims when you praise the Saudi destruction of our religion in the Hijaz. But as you are Syrian, you should know better than that. Whether you like Sufism or not, its presence in Syria is overwhelming to the point of being the most famous country for it in the world. There are more shrines of Awliya in Syria, and more Sufi scholars, than there are Wahhabi laymen there, even today. If you want to be in denial of this then be my guest. What you should know however is that any attempt to impose the Wahhabi heresy upon the people in the way that this has happened in the Hijaz and elsewhere, will not only fail, but will be violently resisted.

I know those books and many others like them HH. These are kids play and no one in his right mind would give them any credence in this age of knowledge.

For you to call Sufism a science is a stretch to the word to say the least.

I want specific answers from you to specific questions. As an intelligent being you should be able to do at least tat much without asking for help or guidance from any presumed master sheikh or tariqa as you call it.

I said I do not regret al-Hallaj’s execution because I had reasons for that. I also admire Rumi because I have reasons. My reservations towards Arabi also have reasons behind them.

Whe I defend Abd al-Wahhab (Muhammad), I do not defend him blindly. His father did not criticize him not because he disagreed with him. His father was thinking of his son’s future in his own way of looking at things. He wanted his son to become a mufti and make money after finishing what the father thought was enough knowledge for the period tey were in. Does that remind of some Syrian mashayekh of today? Do the names Hassoun and Buti ring a bell? The Hanbali mazhab was pretty much extinct at the time and there was not much material value from the father’s point of view to explore it. The son was not satisfied with what he saw and went against his father’s wishes. But it turned out that the son was after something as he discerned that the ills plaguing his coreligionists are no different than those that plagued those of Hanbal’s time. In many respects he was right.

I also do not want to enter into a religious debate. But those questions should not lead to such debate. You should be able to answers them easily.

And please, I do not need references. I have lots as I told you.

Again neither you nor any so-called master Sheikh can say Abd alwahhab is heretic and be taken seriously.

• Four Turks were among other gunmen, who were killed Saturday by the Syrian troops near Idlib.
• SANA: Syrian troops have carried out qualitative operations in Aleppo.
• Syrian Foreign Minister resumed official meetings at the UN headquarter in New York on Saturday.

DAMASCUS, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — Four Turks were among other gunmen, who were killed Saturday by the Syrian troops near Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, the state-TV said, as clashes and violence continued elsewhere.

The confrontation took place at the town of Taftanas in the countryside of Idlib, the state-TV said.

The Syrian government has repeatedly accused Turkey of facilitating the inroads of armed groups into Syria.

Meanwhile, the raging clashes between the government troops and the armed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo have taken the lion’s share of the headlines Saturday.

The state-run SANA news agency said the Syrian troops have carried out qualitative operations at Sheikh Lutfi district in Aleppo, killing and injuring scores of “terrorists” — a term used by the Syrian government to brand the rebels.

The troops also killed scores of armed men at the districts of al-Sakhour, Khan al-Asal and near al-Hamza mosque in Aleppo.

In Tal al-Zarazir area, 22 armed men were killed by the Syrian troops, according to SANA.

Meanwhile, a Syrian military source stressed Saturday that the Syrian troops have wrested back control over two rebel-held areas in the fighting-stricken Aleppo province.

The unnamed source, who was quoted by SANA, said the Syrian troops are in full control over the al-Amirieh and Tal Zarazir districts in Aleppo.

“Our forces will proceed in eliminating the terrorist mercenaries in all areas of Aleppo,” the source said.

The battles in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and commercial hub, have been raging since Thursday when the armed rebels announced the commencement of the “decisive battle” in a bid to bring down Aleppo.

Despite their threats, the rebels managed to ramp up the chaos in Aleppo and elsewhere, but so far have failed to make big achievements on ground.

However, the intense fighting has further started to threat the old heritage of the city.

In a video posted by activists onto YouTube, huge fire that apparently resulted from the intense clashes in Aleppo has engulfed the medieval marketplace, whose labyrinth of narrow alleys and shops was a stomping ground for tourists.

The old souks are also regarded by the UNESCO as world heritage.

The video also showed the fire while eating the old wooden doors of the old shops that sell everything such as foodstuff, fabrics, perfumes, spices and artisan souvenirs, while making its way up to cloud the sky over the old part of the city.

Also, intense violence engulfed Saturday near the Syrian capital of Damascus, as clashes and gunfire escalated during the day in the suburbs of Qudsiah, Harasta and Barzeh, according to witnesses, who said many residents of Qudsiah opted to leave their homes in anticipation of intense fighting.

In Harasta, clashes renewed and the situation “doesn’t bode well,” a witness said.

In Barzeh, intense clashes were reported to have been taking place at the orchard area connecting Barzeh to Harasta.

Clashes in the suburbs of Damascus have become increasingly common despite the lull every now and then in those areas.

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem resumed official meetings at the UN headquarter in New York on Saturday on the sidelines of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, the foremost of which is his meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy to Syria, who is roaming the influential countries in order to come up with a workable peace plan to Syria after his predecessor Kofi Annan failed to materialize that.

According to SANA, al-Moallem discussed with Brahimi his mission in Syria, stressing that the success of Brahimi’s mission depends basically on stopping supporting, funding and arming the ” armed terrorist groups” as a way to start the national dialogue.

You see it was you who did not want he deBate and I agreed. I was looking for intelligent answers to specific questions giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are able to answer on your own without resorting to so called master sheikh or guidance from references that I tod you already I have lots of.

So again why does a murdered have to behave like a dead body in the hand of a mere mortal so-called master sheikh who is often of dubious background?

Has Sufism which may have been at some point in time relevant transformed into a tariqa to make unsuspecting innocent lost souls into robots or drones in the hands of vulture? Do you not think this to be a valid question?

How do you know that the so-called master sheikh is not a dajjal seeking unsuspecting victims among the innocent seekers of truth?

What is makrama? How do you recognize or measure it?

Is Sufism, the word, derived from wool wearer? Or are they the same Greek sophists?
Could they be the so-called ikhwan al-safa? Where do you find justifications for such tariqas in the Book and Sunnah? Do you understand the Qura’n?

Was ghazali, the imam of thousand years, ago a follower of any tariqa? Did he need a master sheikh in order to practice Sufism if he ever did?

Was Abd Alqadir al-Jaylani a Hanbali jurisprudent? Did he practice Sufism? If so, is it known that he ever pronounced such blasphemous utterings as it is well known to happen with Sufi practitioners in a state which they call trance or ‘spiritual’ ecstasy? If You know that Jaylani never exhibited such behavior then why is he different than other Sufis?

DAMASCUS, September 26 (Xinhua) — In an unprecedented event, five
Syrian military defectors who had sided with the rebel Free Syrian Army

(FSA) dashed through a meeting of opposition parties in the capital
Damascus on Wednesday, admitting that they were wrong and that holding
weapons will not solve the Syrian crisis.

Three officers, two warrant officers and six civilians, who had sided with the FSA, dashed
through a conference of Syrian opposition at home on Wednesday. “After
we had defected our military posts and worked with the armed groups, we
figured that the solution to the Syrian crisis can’t be achieved by
holding weapons,” they told the conference.

Lieutenant-Colonel Khaled Abdul-Rahman al-Zalem, a defected officer who served as the
deputy chief of the rebels’ military council, told the conference that
“the solution can’t be achieved through holding weapons, blasts,
sabotage or killing the innocent, but repenting from the wrongdoing and
through political means.”

For his side, Yaser al-Abed, who ran an armed insurgent group in the northern Aleppo province, addressed the conference and called on those who have carried weapons to slow down.
“Work your minds and know that holding weapons is nothing but a
violation to the minds and freedom alike,” he said.

“Syria is our home and honour, but they wanted to burn it. The most targeted things
are our religion, nation and land,” al-Abed said. “I have known all
that, and that is why I have decided to lay down my weapon to be a
loving person who seeks the good and the humanity.”